Spelman Museum of Fine Art announces its first exhibition of 2020 with the United States debut of “Theaster Gates: Black Image Corporation.” Initially presented in Milan at Fondazione Prada in 2018 and Gropius Bau (Berlin) in 2019. “Black Image Corporation” touches American soil, rightfully landing in Atlanta.
Curated by renown artist Theaster Gates, the exhibition includes “large format prints” by Moneta Sleet Jr. and Issac Sutton, two of the most influential Black photographers of the 20th century. Sleet Jr. won a Pulitzer Prize in 1969 for capturing the famous image of Coretta Scott King at the funeral for her husband. Sutton, a noted fashion photographer of his time, is responsible for iconic photographs of Muhammad Ali, Aretha Franklin, and other famous names. Included in the presentation are thousands of images of African-American women by other staff photographers at Johnson Publishing Company.
Archives are the site of memory and the Johnson Publishing Company archive is an encyclopedic memorial of African American life, in particular the style, grace and beauty of Black women over three decades
Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., president of Spelman College
Consequently, “Black Image Corporation” invites exploration of both African-American publishing and image-making, referencing Ebony and Jet both of which are defining magazines of Black American culture.
Theaster Gates’ exhibition is an exquisitely curated selection of images, shot by two outstanding Black photographers, Moneta Sleet Jr. and Isaac Sutton. As artists, the two photographers turned the pages of Ebony and Jet into galleries filled with defining images of Black women and, with the eye of an artist, Theaster Gates calls attention to the way in which these photographic images capture the imagination and power of self-authorship of Black women that continues to be a potent force in shaping and defining American culture.
Mary Schmidt
“Theaster Gates: Black Image Corporation” is on view from January 28 – May 16, 2020. See the press release here.